Emily fell into bed, exhausted. Rodney was showering and she intended to stay awake until he got out. She pulled the sheet up, covering the thin white t-shirt and colorful polka-dot boxers she'd borrowed from Rodney's drawer. She didn't have any good reason for nabbing them except that they made her smile and, well, he seemed to like it.

It had been a long week since Daniel arrived. She and Daniel had put all the catching up behind them and gotten seriously to work, putting in excruciatingly long hours each day. They recruited a few people to help input the data, agreeing that together they could process the work faster than either could type and having a consensus of meaning between them seemed more important.

Their arguments over meaning grew fewer as, with the volume of work, Daniel quickly picked up on Emily's complex theories about Lantean inverted letters. He was fluent in the Milky Way dialect, had retained the language when he returned from Ascension, but until now had little experience with this dialect. It helped that they were able to make quick cross-references in the database, an advantage they hadn't had at the SGC. With these additional factors in play, the data entry was moving much faster than either of them anticipated.

Things were settling into place in her world, she thought, as she cradled the pillow and fought closing her eyes. Knowing the truth about the device had crystalized her feelings about a lot of things. She was coming to terms with the mistake she had made. Rodney seemed to have relaxed by a few degrees. Her declaration of love seemed to have given him some sense of security. She shifted her legs under the sheets and smiled, thinking about how playful and gabby he'd been—and not just with her. He was smiling more, laughing more, and had at least a degree more patience with others. He'd even made some friendly overtures toward Daniel.

She must have dozed off. She started drowsily as Rodney climbed into bed and realized the lights were already off. Rain pattered the windows. She reached out to him sleepily and he scooped her close. She remembered to push her hair up and out of his face and fell back into unconsciousness.

They were awoken some time later when the radio Rodney kept at the bedside squawked, calling him to the infirmary to deal with a pair of the junior science staff.

"Oh, God, what now," he groaned.

She offered to come with him, but wasn't very convincing.

"No, no. I'll be right back," he said, shrugging on his fuzzy, blue, terrycloth bathrobe.

"You aren't going to get dressed to go over there?"

"Hell, no," he grumbled, rubbing a hand over his face. "This better be good."

She fell back asleep, barely registering a low rumble of thunder outside.

She woke again later to find Rodney heavily returning to bed. She rolled over and a flash of lightning revealed he was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling in the dark.

"What was it?" she asked sleepily.

"A couple of idiots that like to call themselves scientists were cataloging a lab tonight and turned something on," he said, clearly annoyed. Rain pounded the windows.

"What did they turn on?" she asked, struggling to push the fog of sleep aside and understand what was happening.

"I don't know. I'll figure it out later. Are you awake now, too?" he asked hopefully, sneaking closer, his hand creeping under her shirt.

"Wait a minute," she said, putting her hand over his to still his wandering fingers. "Why were they in the infirmary?"

He sighed with frustration. "The device was emitting radiation. As soon as they detected it, they shut it off. Carson says they're fine." He kissed her.

She couldn't help but respond to him, but was feeling troubled, distracted. Something was tugging at her. Something was wrong. Finally she put her hands on his face and said, "Wait, wait. I'm sorry, but I can't do this right now."

He pulled back. "What? Why?"

"Rodney, they could be in trouble. We should find out what that device does."

"I'll look at it first thing in the morning. It'll be fine," he said reassuringly and tried to resume his ministrations.

"No. I've got a bad feeling about this, Rodney. It'll only take an hour to go look. Let's go. I'll do the reading. It'll be fast, I promise." She extricated herself from him and threw back the sheet.

"I get bad feelings all the time. It's usually nothing. Carson says they're fine. Oh, now what are you doing?"

"I'm getting dressed."

"I just got back," he groused.

"I'm sorry. I can't sleep or. . . do anything else until I know what that device does. You're going to have to go with me because I don't know where to look, so get up."

"Damn it!" he muttered, grabbing the bathrobe, then seemed to change his mind when he realized she was putting on her uniform. "Would you turn on the light, please?" he demanded.

"Certainly." She giggled and the lights came on at half-strength. "You're so hot when you're grumpy."

"Really?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. You say things like that to me all the time. Why shouldn't I say things like that to you?" She was tying her shoes.

"You're attracted to my grumpy behavior instead of my manly physique, hm?"

"Mmmm. I am," she said dreamily and chortled, cracking herself up. She went to him, lazily wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I promise I'll make this up to you on Sunday."

"That's tomorrow, or rather, today," he said flatly. "Are you really going to take it off?"

"Ah, no. But I'll make more time for you—I promise."

When they were heading out the door, he said, "You know it's supposed to be mandatory for everyone."

"Yes, but I just took a day off a week ago with you, remember? Daniel is only here for one more week. I'll take a day off after he's gone, if you promise it'll be as good as the last one. Besides, didn't you make plans to go fishing with Carson?"

"Yes, don't remind me," he said, irritably. "Maybe Daniel would like to do something else while he's here. You're working him like a slave."

"I'm a hard task-master. Be glad you're the boss, not me."

"Right now it feels like you are the boss."

She let out a peal of laughter, then guiltily covered her mouth, smothering any further sounds she might make. "I'm so tired, I feel like I'm drunk," she admitted, swaying a bit, and put her arm around him.

"Hm. Let's get this done so we can go back to bed, then."

"Where are we going?"

"My lab. I can access their duty logs there as well as the database and hopefully anything else we might need."

"So we don't have to go to the actual lab they were cataloging?"

"I don't think so. I hope not," he said, testily.

When they arrived, he sat down at his work station and pulled up the location of the lab that the scientists named Hewston and Watson had been working in. Emily typed that location into the database and pulled up schematics of the device as well as a description and started reading while Rodney went over the schematics.

She hadn't read very far before she started panicking. "Oh, Rodney, this is bad—this is very bad."

He came up behind her and started reading too. Soon she heard him mutter, "Damn it!"

"There's time. It looks like it takes at least eight to fourteen hours before the tumors could ignite. How long ago was their exposure?"

He looked at his watch, "A little over three hours. We'd better start waking people up." He clicked on his headset. "Control Room, this is McKay, I have a list of people you need to wake up and get to the large conference room ASAP." He turned to her, "Can you start working up some kind of report?"

"Of course," she said, opening a new file on the laptop and scrolling through the information in the database to find the most pertinent information to drop into it.

"Ok, Control Room—here's your list: Weir, Sheppard, Beckett, Dr. Watson and Dr. Hewston, and anyone trained to handle bomb disposal. That's all for now. We'll meet in the conference room in half an hour. McKay out."

"Rodney, if we'd waited until morning. . . ."

"They'd be dead," he said, reaching around her for something. "Along with a whole lot of other people, I know. I know. You were right. I'll never doubt you again."

"It's the bloody middle of the night, Rodney!" Carson complained.

Emily uneasily addressed the group while Rodney prepared his visual aid, "I'm sorry we woke you. A situation has come to light that couldn't wait until morning." A low rumble of thunder shuddered through the tower. She nervously looked at their faces, each displayed some level of annoyance and impatience and considered what to say next.

"I'm ready," Rodney said.

Emily gratefully sat down in an empty seat next to Dr. Weir while Rodney started to explain.

He gestured at the two junior scientists, speaking in an acerbic tone, "Earlier this evening, Drs. Hewston and Watson were doing a routine cataloging of one of the abandoned ancient labs that we recently uncovered. They foolishly went against protocol and activated an unknown device. The device emitted an unusual type of radiation and they shut it off. At that point they were at least smart enough to go to the infirmary where Carson gave them a clean bill of health. That was premature, however."

"Ok. Why couldn't this wait until morning?" Weir asked.

"Because the device," Rodney gestured at the display, "that they activated, was a powerful weapon, designed by the Ancients to use against the Wraith. The technology was abandoned early on because it affected everyone in proximity. Not only Wraith, but Ancients and Humans as well. The technology is spectacularly complicated, but, long story short, the device creates explosive tumors."

The room broke into chaos. Carson was saying that wasn't possible. Dr. Hewston was gasping and Dr. Watson rose from his chair, making it scrape loudly against the floor. Weir and Sheppard were making demands and asking questions.

Emily rose, speaking loudly to get their attention, "No one needs to panic. We have at least four hours, probably a lot longer, before the tumors, if they exist, ignite."

Carson leaned in and said, "I can't see how this is medically possible."

Rodney countered sarcastically, "Yeah, I wish. I'd be back in bed by now if it weren't. Look, it's actually quite ingenious." He clicked the remote and pointed at the monitor. "The device emits millions of irradiated particles that have been tagged with genetic material, programmed to enter through the airway and gather behind the lungs. Now, as they go, they collect trace elements from the body that they need to complete an explosive compound which, once created, causes the tumor to reach critical mass and explode. We aren't talking about something small here. We're talking catastrophic. An explosion of this magnitude could bring down the tower if we let these things reach critical mass. These things were intended to blow a hole through the hull of a hive ship."

"We need to get them under a scanner—now," Carson said, emphatically.

"I'll organize an ordnance disposal crew," Sheppard put in.

Weir stood up and spoke, "We need to set up an operating room on a lower level of an unpopulated part of the city. Can you do that, Carson?"

Carson frowned. "Yes, but I'll have to wake up a lot of people to do it."

"Do that. John, I want you to help me find the right location for that room."

John nodded.

Weir gestured at Carson. "Ok. Get these people to the infirmary. It sounds like we're going to have to work fast to contain this. I'll get back to you soon with the location for the surgery."

Carson shepherded Hewston and Watson, who both looked completely bewildered, toward the door. Before he walked out he turned to Rodney and said, "I thought you were going back to bed?"

"I was. I did," Rodney said tiredly.

"What made you go back and research the device, then?" Carson asked.

Rodney looked sheepish and gestured halfheartedly at Emily. "Ah, Emily made me do it, actually."

Carson frowned, shaking his head, and called out, "Emily—good work. You just saved at least two people's lives, probably many more."

Everyone cleared out except for Weir, Rodney and Emily. Weir was asking a few more questions. When she was satisfied, she asked Rodney to step out of the room so that she could speak to Emily, privately.

Emily felt a twinge of adrenaline as Rodney sent her a questioning look and walked out. She couldn't imagine what she'd done to command Weir's wrath this time. She sank back into a chair before furtively meeting Dr. Weir's gaze.

Weir sat on the edge of the conference table nearby and paused, her lips pressed in a thin line. "Dr. Freedman, I owe you an apology."

Emily blinked in confusion.

"I'm embarrassed to say that I jumped to conclusions after receiving some bad information—several. . . pieces of bad information, actually, and I completely mischaracterized you in an unjust light. After speaking at length with Dr. Jackson and with Rodney, I can see now that you are a very capable, very caring individual, who works diligently for the betterment of our situation here. I want you to know that I appreciate the work you're doing and, in the case of tonight, I appreciate your help keeping Rodney on track."

Emily's mouth worked to say something, but nothing would come out.

"Yes, that detail wasn't lost on me. Please accept my sincere apology and let me thank you for the lives you saved tonight."

"Of course, Dr. Weir. Please, don't give it another moment's thought," she said, haltingly.

"We're glad to have you here in Atlantis. Now, go get some rest and enjoy tomorrow."

"Thank you," Emily stammered. "I'm honored to be here."

Weir rose and headed to the control room to confer with Sheppard. Emily stayed put for the moment and slumped in the chair, tiredly closing her eyes.

Rodney came back in. "Hey, what was that about?"

She smiled at him weakly. "It was an apology," she said simply and got up to collect the things they had brought with them.

"Oh. Huh. That's good."

"Yes. Now I don't have to worry about Weir sending me back to Earth. All I have to worry about is Wraith, Replicators, and exploding tumors. What a relief."

"Hm. Look, I'm going to go see if they need any help finding a place for the surgery. Why don't you go back to bed?"

She turned to him and put a hand on his chest. "No. I'm going down to the infirmary to help move equipment."

"Emily, you don't have to do that," he chided gently.

"I know I don't. I want to. I'm awake now. I might as well do something useful. The faster they can operate on those two, the better." She bussed his lips lightly, turning to go.

"Wait," he said and pulled her closer. He squeezed her and seemed reluctant to let her go. His lips were hovering near her ear and he whispered roughly, "I. . . love you, Emily."

She gripped him harder. It was the first time he'd spoken the words, though he'd alluded to them in roundabout ways several times over the last week. "I know," she answered urgently and slid her cheek against his until their lips made contact.

He kissed her thoroughly, pulled back, sniffed, and looking shy, said, "Be careful, ok?"

"I will. I promise."

When she reached the infirmary, things were chaotic. She held back for a moment, looking for a familiar face, trying to assess the situation. Then she recognized the nurse who had come through the intergalactic gate bridge with her.

"Nancy, what can I do to help?"

"Stay out of the way," Nancy ordered brusquely and turned away to locate some other supplies.

Emily stood there, feeling a bit stupid for thinking she could help, when Rodney came over the radio. "Emily, we've located a satellite medical facility on the outskirts of the city. I've been trying to access it remotely so I can turn on the room's disinfection system, but I can't do that from here. Could you do it?"

"Ok. It doesn't look like I'll be much help here, anyway. Tell me where to go."

"I've just sent Carson the location on his laptop. Is he there?"

"I don't see him."

"Ok, I'll just walk you through it, then, so pay attention."

He started directing her through the corridors. She was glad he didn't expect her to follow a map because she would have gotten lost after the third turn. After a while, he picked her up on the city's internal sensors and could see exactly where she was. The city was dark there except for the occasional flashes of lightning. The halls lit up dimly in front of her as she walked down the corridor.

"It's pretty spooky down here, Rodney," she commented.

"I'm sure it is. I'm sorry you had to go by yourself. There should be a medical team right behind you. Ok, it should be twenty feet in front of you."

"I see it." She thought, open door, and the door opened in front of her. "Ok, I'm in. There are a lot of consoles and equipment."

"Find the main console."

She rolled her eyes and stopped talking to him because it was obvious he wouldn't be able to help her figure it out from where he was. She walked around the room, consoles and displays lighting up around her. There was one off to the side that looked bigger than the rest and she went over to it, pulled off the thin sheet of plastic that covered it, and examined the controls. She touched the crystal that would activate a menu, then scrolled through until she found the room controls. Once there she found the control for the disinfection system. It prompted her to activate or not.

"Emily, did you find it?" he barked.

"Yes," she hissed. "Now give me a minute so I can think, before I end up in the same kind of trouble as Watson and Hewston, ok?"

"Ok," he said, sounding hurt.

She sighed and backed up the menu, looking for something that would tell her how the disinfection system worked. She doggedly explored the system, knowing how easily she could make a mistake. "What I wouldn't give for a mocha frappuccino right now," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm trying to find out how the disinfection systems work, so I don't inadvertently fry myself. Can you access that information from there?"

"Let me look," he countered.

She heard noises behind her and turned to see medical personnel arriving with carts loaded down with supplies.

Carson came in to stand beside her. "What are you up to now, love?"

Rodney was talking in her ear so she held up a finger.

"It looks like you execute the command and then you have thirty seconds to leave the room. Warning bells will sound while the room is being disinfected and then you'll hear a chime and the doors will open."

"Ok, but how does it work? What sort of mechanism does it use?"

"It looks like it uses a combination of air filtration, ultra-violet light and a micronized disinfecting gas."

"Ok, Carson did you hear that?"

"Yes, I did."

"I assume you'll want your equipment to be as sterile as possible after the trip down here, so maybe it's best if you put it inside the room before we activate this?"

"Of course. You don't have a laptop hooked up to access the controls?"

"No, I'm sorry, I don't know how to do that, but I can access it manually for you. Is there anything else I can access for you that you'll need?"

"No, just the disinfection system." He turned and started motioning for the medics to bring in the equipment.

She sagged against a wall and watched them bring it all in.

Carson came over and said, "You're a handy lady to have around tonight. As soon as you get this room disinfected, I expect you to get to bed. You aren't looking too lively."

She managed a grim smile and nodded. Once Carson had everything arranged the way he wanted, they cleared the room and she activated the disinfection system. She curled up on a dusty lounge chair in the corridor and waited with the surgical team, then watched as they wheeled Hewston and Watson in on gurneys, already anesthetized.

She got on the radio and said, "Control room, the surgery is about to begin. All non-essential personnel should clear the area except for the ordnance disposal team."

"Yes," she heard Carson speaking over the radio, "and that includes you, Emily. Get to bed and take the day off tomorrow—that's an order."

She was wearily heading back to the central tower when she heard Rodney looking for her on the radio.

"Emily, where are you?"

"I'm heading back to the control room."

"No need. Let's go back to bed."

"Ok. Meet me in our quarters then?"

She came out of a corridor near the central tower and wandered around a bit, trying to get her bearings. Finally she saw a landmark she recognized and started hiking in the right direction. When she reached the junction that led to the control room, she was surprised to see Rodney waiting there for her.

"Did you get lost? I was thinking about coming to look for you."

"Maybe a little. Sorry. It's a long slog back here and I'm dead on my feet."

He grabbed her hand, squeezing it, and they started walking again.

He was smiling. "You said something earlier and I wondered if you knew you said it."

"Oh, crap, what did I do now?" she whimpered.

He gave her a funny, inquisitive look. "Nothing bad. You just said, 'our quarters.' Did you know you said that?"

"I did? Huh. What about it?"

"I just like the sound of it," he said, smiling to himself.

When they reached the bedroom, she immediately went to the alarm clock and reset it to go off a couple of hours later than usual. As it was, that would barely be four hours of sleep, not nearly enough, but doable. She stripped down and climbed into bed. He settled in next to her and she was out like a light.

She awoke to the jarring sound of the alarm. It took a long time to gather any coherent thought. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Rodney staggering over to her side of the bed to turn it off. It was still dark from the storm. "Is it morning already?" she croaked.

"The alarm's been going off for at least five minutes. Couldn't you hear it?" he demanded peevishly.

She rolled over, got comfortable, and ignored him, drifting off again.

He sat heavily on the edge of the bed with a long suffering sigh and started speaking into his radio, "This is McKay. Can I get a status report on Hewston and Watson?"

That brought her into a more conscious state. She groaned and turned back to him, trying to keep her eyes open.

He was rubbing his face and nodding. "Good. McKay out." He looked back at her. "They got the tumors out. They're still monitoring them every half hour for signs of another tumor forming, but so far, nothing. They made it through the surgeries fine and the tumors were disposed of safely. You going back to sleep? You should, you know. Take the day off, Emily."

"No. I'm getting up," she said and struggled to sit up, stretching and yawning. "I'll be good as new after a shower," she said, padding off to the bathroom. "You should go visit them in the infirmary this morning."

"Mm," was his reply.

She turned back to him. "I can't afford to have one of those sleeping fits, right now, Rodney. I'm depending on you to wake me up every morning until Daniel leaves—you know that, right?"

He frowned.

"Right?"

She felt mostly human by the time she reached her lab, carrying two coffees—both for her. The overhead lighting seemed strange and dim because of the storm still brewing outside. Daniel was there with Neumann and Graden, poking around at a device while three people entering data on the other side of the room worked steadily on their own.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Daniel," she said, assessing the activity in the room and taking a long draw on one of the coffees. It was already half-gone, she realized.

"Don't worry about it. I heard about your midnight adventures from Colonel Sheppard at breakfast. You made a good call. You saved some lives."

"Paranoia can come in handy sometimes," she said flatly. "What are you up to?"

"Well, we're way ahead of them on the data entry. So I thought I'd take a look at this, since you weren't here. It looks very much like the long-range communication device Vala and I used to transfer our consciousness to the Ori galaxy last year, but in many ways it's different. It only has one place for a stone, for one thing, and apparently the stone it uses is a different shape—larger, more circular. That said, I don't see anything around that fits."

She scowled, watching him turn the device and examine it closely. "I looked at it briefly after I arrived and never saw a corresponding stone. Maybe it's an early prototype of the communication device? It's much smaller too, maybe one-third the size of the device you found under the hill at Glastonbury, don't you think?" She came closer and asked Neumann, "What kind of readings are you getting from it?"

"There's a faint energy signature. I believe it's already initialized," Neumann replied. "I'd like to compare these readings with those Dr. Lee took on Earth."

"Do we have that information here on base?" Emily asked.

Neumann nodded.

A sharp crack of lightning made Emily jump.

"Please access that then." Emily peered at the device with disdain. "How would it have been initialized? No one should have touched it. And why didn't the Ancients put an off-button on these damn things?" she said crossly.

Daniel looked at her with raised eyebrows, "You feeling ok?"

"Fine. I haven't been looking forward to getting some of these devices out—this one in particular. I'm surprised you'd want to study it after what happened." She had to raise her voice a bit. Rain was pelting the windows again, a soft roar in the background.

"Call it morbid fascination," he said, pressing his lips together in a slight frown, his eyes never leaving the device.

"Have you looked in the database to see if there's an entry for it? Sometimes you can find a lab inventory if you put in the location of the lab it was found in, but many times we have nothing to go on."

"No, I haven't done that yet," he said, his gloved hands tilting the device as he scrutinized it further. "Actually, I just got it out moments ago."

"Today is the mandatory rest day," she said testily. "I'm surprised everyone is here." She picked up a notebook and opened it to the page where they'd left off the day before.

"I think they're trying to please you. They know how important this is to you and how hard you're pushing yourself. I don't think they'd take it off without your permission," he said kindly, joining her, and peeling off the gloves.

"Do you think I should tell them to go?"

"That's up to you. You're in charge."

"We're making so much progress—I would hate to slow things down now." She wasn't feeling terribly decisive. In fact, she was feeling the pressure of a headache building behind her eyes, which was very irritating.

He just looked at her expectantly.

She took a deep breath and tapped her forehead. "I'll, um, I'll just tell them they can have two days off after you leave, how's that?"

"Sounds reasonable. Are you sure you're ok? Maybe you could use a day off. I can do other things around here today."

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Why does everyone want to tell me to take time off all the time? I'm just fine, ok?" She blasted him with an indignant look.

He put up his hands and raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

"Sorry," she muttered darkly. She approached the people entering data, tersely thanked them for coming in, and promised them an extra day when Daniel left. Then she returned to her work station, trying not to betray how tired she felt, and sat down to work.

Rodney came in a short time later. She forced a smile and tried not to bristle at the interruption. Daniel rose to give them some privacy.

"Hewston and Watson asked me to thank you. Maybe you should go visit them too?"

"I'm glad they're ok. I probably should. They've worked with me from time to time," she said reluctantly, looking down at her notes. "I guess Carson won't be taking you fishing today, then?"

"No," he said with a smile. "Dodged a bullet, there."

"Too bad. You might have liked it once you gave it a try."

"Mm," he said, looking doubtful. "How long are you going to work today?"

He looked hopeful and sweet and she wished she didn't feel so annoyed. The fatigue and the headache combined were making her feel tense and all the coffee she was gulping down wasn't helping that at all, she was sure. "Just through dinner, I guess," she said.

"Early or late? I'd like to go to bed early tonight," he said softly, edging closer to her.

She smiled conspiratorially, remembering her promise to make more time for him today. "Early, I suppose."

His eyes twinkled a bit, she thought, and he said, "Good," and got up to go.

She rose to say goodbye, but noted Neumann had returned and was peering at the device again with a perplexed expression on her face. "What is it, Ada?"

"The energy readings are quite different from the communications device from Earth," Neumann replied absently.

"It's not emitting radiation, or anything like that, is it?" Emily asked, looking at the device with alarm.

"No, but this is strange. The energy signature has changed. Power levels have risen and continue to rise," Neumann commented.

"Let me see that," Rodney demanded and took the instrument from her.

"Em, look at this," Daniel said, pointing. A small, round nodule, about the size of a silver dollar, and composed of some kind of silicone-looking material, was glowing green on the side of the device.

"I didn't notice that before," she said, coming closer, strangely fascinated by the fluorescent glow. Lightning flashed, followed closely by a splintering boom, but this time she didn't jump. She drew closer to the device, feeling strangely serene, compelled to get a closer look.

"I didn't either. It must have just started," Daniel commented.

She squatted down, inches from the device. Daniel backed up, allowing her to get closer. She squinted at it, driven still closer by curiosity. A wave of tranquility washed over her, pushing away all other feeling. She blinked at the sensation. But there was no time to process it. An inexorable urge to touch the silicone nodule overrode all other thought.

"Em, what are you doing?" Daniel said. He sounded worried. That was strange.

It promised. It was pleasant and calm. She touched it. It filled her with joy.

"Emily? Son of a bitch! Emily!" Rodney was yelling. How odd.

Everything went blank.